The Heaven-Defier
The woman and I stepped into the inn and took whatever empty seats we could find. She called a waiter over and began ordering this and that.
"This, and this. And I should like this as well."
"Y-yes!"
"No need to be so tense. And you—will you have a drink?"
"Waiter. One bottle of Yangha Daegok."
"Y-yes!"
"Hm. A man who knows how to enjoy a little refinement."
A smile curved her lips as she looked at me, thoroughly pleased with herself. I had no wish to look at that face a moment longer, so I spread a veil of qi around us and cut straight to the point.
"Skip the preamble and get to it. Who are you? How did you know I'm a possessor—"
"Peace. You're far too worked up. There's no need for such anger. I will answer you, one thing at a time."
"Then shut up and talk. Who are you? Are you a possessor, like me?"
I bore down on her with internal energy steeped in killing intent, and still she only watched me, the smile never once leaving her mouth.
"Well. We were in the wrong first, so I shall overlook rudeness of this degree."
"Y-Yangha Daegok... here it is!"
"First, a cup."
The waiter had returned with the wine at some point. She took the bottle from him as if it were the most natural thing in the world and slowly filled the cups.
"Let us begin with introductions. I am called Jang Sanwol."
"Spare me the face-saving. So are you a possessor too?"
"Wrong. A pity, but I am purely of this place—born here, and raised here."
"Then how in the—!"
"Hush."
The words I'd been about to shout died before they left my mouth.
"You are far too excited. Have a drink, and cool your temper."
"..."
It galled me, but she was right. I was more worked up than I had any need to be, and losing my head so badly I couldn't even hold a conversation was not like me. My mood was foul all the same, but I drank the wine she offered, steadied myself, and asked her again.
"So how, exactly, do you know what I am?"
"Nothing so grand. I merely had a knack for reading the flow of the heavens."
"Had? Why the past tense?"
"Because your existence shattered heaven's flow."
"..."
"Allow me to speak of myself for a moment."
We had already emptied our cups. Jang Sanwol filled them again, tipped hers, and went on.
"Have you ever heard it said that when a person is born, they come into the world beneath a star that suits them?"
"A little..."
"Then this will go quickly. Yes. That Jin Muwon was born under his own star as well."
"..."
"But that star was small, and dark, and wretched. Worse, he was born with a fate that would drag the most brilliantly shining star beside him down into ruin."
At her words, the original novel rose unbidden in my mind. Soye had been born with the greatest talent of all, yet she clung to the worst fiancé imaginable, never brought that talent into full bloom, and was meant to end her life in miserable obscurity.
The most brilliantly shining star would be Soye. And the small, wretched star beside it would have been Jin Muwon.
"But six years ago, the fate written in the heavens was overturned completely."
"..."
"The fates of most of the stars were rewritten. And yet, in the stars themselves, no change could be found. All but one."
"And that... was my star?"
"Yes. Where a small, wretched star ought to have stood, an enormous light had taken its place."
"An enormous light."
"So vast that it swallowed even the light of the stars around it."
"Then how did you know the owner of that star was me?"
"Nothing difficult. We Celestial Readers can tell, the moment we look at a person, which star is theirs."
"You can tell?"
"Don't look at me like that. Hard as it may be to believe, even we do not know by what principle it works."
I didn't trust it, but she didn't seem to be lying. If it had been an act, her heartbeat or her breathing would have slipped at least once while she spoke. Neither faltered for so much as an instant.
"Fine. I'll grant you, a thousand times over, that you recognized my star. Even so, how could you be sure I was a possessor?"
"For Celestial Readers, it is common sense."
"Common sense...?"
Another cup had been poured at some point. Jang Sanwol drank, and went on.
"A fate, once fixed, never changes. No matter what befalls the one it belongs to."
"But just now you said my fate—"
"No, no. You are not Jin Muwon."
"...Don't tell me."
"Yes. A fate that does not change, no matter what happens to its owner, has changed. Which is to say that the owner has changed."
"But that alone isn't—"
"Did you know?"
"Know what?"
"Possessing another's body is a rather troublesome method, but even in this world there are a few ways to do it."
"..."
"Even so. Those who possess in that fashion remain bound, soul to the original star, and so they cannot change fate."
Jang Sanwol pressed on, then jabbed a finger at me.
"But you are different. You have overturned not only your own fate, but the fates of everyone around you, root and branch. We Celestial Readers have a name for people like you."
"What did you call them?"
"One who has crossed over from another world, and so does not follow the fate this world's heavens have laid down—one who can break it."
When I had heard her out, I let out a long sigh. It was far too late for excuses; I had already let too much slip past my own lips, and I had no learning in the celestial arts to begin with. Whatever I said now would only be turned back against me.
"May I take that reaction to mean my reasoning was correct?"
"..."
I hated the sight of her looking so smug, so I threw back the wine left in my cup. It went down burning, as if it meant to set my insides alight, and then a clean, piercing clarity followed. It was exactly what I needed just then.
"All right. I understand how you saw through me. Then for what purpose did you approach me and Soye?"
"To be precise, I approached you because my business is with you."
"With me...?"
"Yes. It is something only you can do."
"Something only I can do?"
"As I said before, no matter what a person does, they cannot change their own fate. There is, however, a single exception."
"When a Heaven-Defier is involved?"
"Just so."
Jang Sanwol filled her empty cup to the brim as she spoke.
"I, you see, did not care for my fate."
"..."
"Those of us who read fate through the heavens share one thing in common."
"Which is?"
"We cannot intervene. Not in our own fate, and not in anyone else's."
"And if you break that rule?"
"You pay the price for overturning fate."
"The price...?"
"A death that cannot be escaped."
"Then isn't changing fate through me dangerous as well?"
"You needn't worry about that. As I said, a Heaven-Defier is an exception in all sorts of ways."
"Convenient little rule, that."
She swallowed a bitter smile and tipped her cup. I drank with her, set mine down, and spoke.
"So why should I help you?"
"Truly... how is a person so very easy to predict?"
"Save the nonsense for when you get home. If we help you with your business, you hand something over to us in return. That's what a deal is, isn't it?"
"Yes. You're right. Of course we aren't asking you to do it for nothing. If you grant our request..."
My hand trembled, fine and sharp. If what I had just heard was true, then a chance I could never abandon had all but walked up to me.
"Do I have to answer right now?"
"No. Think it over at your leisure. Only, I would like your answer within a year."
"Fine. We'll set this aside for now."
"Well, all right. I've said all I came to say, so I'll be on my way."
"Wait. How am I supposed to contact you?"
"Now that you mention it, I nearly forgot. Very well. Take this."
"This is...?"
What Jang Sanwol held out was a small wooden token. I was still wondering where such a thing was used when she spoke.
"Show that token at any branch of the Hao Gate, and you will meet a man who handles messenger pigeons. Reach me through him."
"I'll remember."
She seemed to find the answer satisfactory enough. Without so much as a glance back, she took her subordinates and left. Only after I confirmed that Jang Sanwol's presence had vanished completely did I let my guard down.
"What a thoroughly unpleasant bastard."
I disliked the way she kept grinning at nothing, as if something were endlessly amusing. What I disliked more was that her smile and her eyes had nothing to do with each other—there was not the slightest trace of feeling in them. She was already gone, though, so I decided to put her out of my mind until we met again, and climbed to the second floor of the inn.
After everything the day had thrown at me, fatigue was closing in on me as well. When I returned to the room, Soye was already asleep, lying there in perfect peace with no idea that anything had happened. I couldn't fight the exhaustion any longer. I burrowed into the blankets and drew her into my arms, and Soye, who had been sleeping, stirred a little toward waking.
"Mm... Gaga?"
"Sorry. Did I wake you?"
"No. What were you doing, that you're only back now?"
"Just having a drink. We have to leave early tomorrow, so let's sleep."
"All right..."
We would have to travel hard again tomorrow. I was just about to drift off beside a half-dreaming Soye when she caught my arm.
"But Gaga. Why do you smell of a woman's perfume?"
"Huh?"
"You said you'd kill me if I cheated. Didn't you?"